Elana Meyers, Lolo Jones amongst six star-studded female athletes named to the 2014 U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team

2014 Women's Olympic Bobsled Team (l-R) Greubel, Jones, Meyers, Evans, Fenlator & Williams

2014 U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team announced

IGLS, Austria (Jan. 19, 2014)- The U.S. Bobsled & Skeleton Federation (USBSF) today announced the six drivers and nine push athletes who will represent the United States in the women’s and men’s bobsled events at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.  All U.S. Olympic Team nominations are subject to approval by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).

“This is the deepest field of push athletes we’ve ever had,” said USBSF CEO Darrin Steele. “We knew heading into the season that the Olympic selection was going to be extremely difficult. It’s a good problem to have, but it meant that some outstanding athletes would not make the Olympic Team.”

Jamie Greubel (Newtown, Pa.), Elana Meyers (Douglasville, Ga.) and Jazmine Fenlator (Wayne, N.J.) earned their positions as the top three ranked U.S. pilots in international standings. Greubel has claimed five World Cup medals, including today’s win, and currently leads the U.S. women in points as the second ranked driver in the world. Meyers has collected six medals so far this season, two of them gold, and is just one point behind Greubel in world ranking. Fenlator earned one medal to-date this season and is ranked seventh, putting all three U.S. pilots in the top 10 international standings.

Aja Evans (Chicago, Ill.), Lauryn Williams (Miami, Fla.) and Lolo Jones (Des Moines, Ill.) have been nominated as the women’s push athletes. Driver and push athlete combinations will be decided at a later date.

Evans proved herself as a contender after pushing Meyers to a silver medal on the 2014 Olympic track in Sochi’s test event last season, and has earned four medals this season.

Williams, a three-time Olympic sprinter and 2012 4×100-meter relay Olympic gold medalist, turned heads when she finished third in the 2013 U.S. National Push Championships after just three days of training, and she’s claimed three medals in the four competitions she’s entered.

Jones, a two-time Olympic hurdler and two-time World Indoor Champion, started the sport last season and made a case for her Olympic berth with two medal performances this season. Williams and Jones are only the ninth Americans to compete in both the winter and summer addition of the Olympic Games.

The U.S. women have won a medal in every Olympic Winter Games since the sport was introduced in 2002.  Jill Bakken and Vonetta Flowers were victorious in 2002, Shauna Rohbock and Valerie Fleming claimed silver in 2006, and Erin Pac and Meyers earned bronze in 2010. The women collectively earned 12 medals in the first seven World Cup races and are on track to continue the program’s history of success.

The Olympic bobsled events will be held in a four-heat format over two days of racing. The men’s two-man bobsled competition will take place Feb. 16-17, followed by women’s bobsled Feb. 18-19. The men’s four-man bobsled competition will be one of the last events of the Olympic Games, taking place Feb. 22-23.